~ Blogging about Rheumatology, Medicine and Technology

Arth-rit-is-is- not-right

Sometimes we are so busy doing our activity scores we don’t have time to really listen to what our patients are saying. Dorothy Logue is a talented poet who also happens to have rheumatoid arthritis – she has very kindly agreed to share this poem with us…

‘Arth-rit-is-is- not-right’

I am not my usual self, for days I’ve felt unwell.
I’ve lost my mojo, anyone who knows me can tell.
I feel so ill, my back hurts, my arms and legs hurt too,
My neck is so sore, I really don’t know what to do.
I could ring the doctor again, what good would that be?
I could go visit him but there’s nothing new to see.
I cannot drive today, my fingers are so sore.
I can just complain and mope and it is such a bore.
No one knows how I feel, I can’t make them understand,
When you feel as low as this, your thoughts get out of hand.
I’m not a hypocondriac, nor one to complain,
I could whinge all the time but that would be in vain.
Unless you are a sufferer, you wouldn’t believe
The lengths I will go to, to have the pain relieved.
Maybe tomorrow morning when I get out of bed
I will feel much better and love the day ahead.
Days I ask myself questions, there are no answers back,
Days I go out and enjoy myself, life is back on track.
I keep my pain and suffering private so no one will ever know,
They only see the “ME” which I force to “get up and go.”